Day 1 ||Something about a serenade, and driving though blind spots, prompted these machinations.

The words came to me, as I began: “Launch and Iterate.” I see so many doing it. And so many tech companies doing it.

What I did not add, prior, is, “even if you do not know what you are doing.” I know the last little bit is less uncommon…but still uncommon. Still! I must move forward.

My name is Jianda, and I am starting a crowdfunding campaign, today.

[Imaginary support group crowd echoes:] “Hi, Jianda.

— —

I have been chatting up doing crowdfunding for a while, even before I moved to Seattle. I find myself struggling, and then finding a way to make just enough, and so the dance continues.

I am expert at spotlighting and buoying the success of others, and yet I seem to have this little blind spot, “driving blind,” when it comes to myself. I did make a bit of an attempt promoting myself via Patreon, however, finding some solutions with their customer support team and blasting their updates out to my (still forming) fanbase might make that prohibitive for me, at least at this time.

I am starting a GoFundMe campaign with things I most definitely need, both for supporting myself, and supporting myself as a musician. I might even call it a little bit of A & B testing…just to see if I can bolster a little confidence, and minimize this blind spot.

I was hesitant to begin because of not quite knowing the steps for crowdfunding, even though I helped other successfully raise all funds needed for a crowdfunding campaign (again, blind spot).

I was blessed to serenade a couple in the park, yesterday, and then also was speaking with a sweet friend today (two friends, actually!) about the value proposition: valuing yourself. Seeing your artistry as a service. Seattle is the little town of “artisanship” of all kinds. I am doing my best, here, to claim a little space for myself.

Blindly, today, I step out on the wing here, for my crowdfunding campaign today. Necessity/awkwardness, I suppose, are the parents of invention. At least in my case.

I know that I am beginning this with some wrong dance moves. I am just “pushing play,” in essence, today. With more to come as I continue to course correct.

I should not claim blindness. I don’t! Not in the bigger picture. I am certainly not feigning this blind spot, however, I can heal it. The way to heal is not necessarily to eradicate, but to replace something with healing ideas and actions. All the care I put into promoting others, I can turn around and put into my work.

I liken this process to fumbling around with the lights off: I know where everything is. How the room should look. I am just not quite awake yet, and in just a moment, once the light is on, I will orient myself to where I am. All will be familiar (like the work I do for others, with some TLC applied to my own work).

I welcome you to come chat with me about these ideas. You can respond to this article here at Medium, or connect with me via the Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook links below. Drop me a line at heartsongs101 @ gmail.com.

songs are poems and poems songs, in my world. sometimes they are interchangeable — ❤

Seattle-Based, Jianda Monique is a musician, artist coach, newbie coder, data wrangler, writer, and so much more . She’s collaborated with acclaimed artists such as Tycho (“Dive”) and her music has been featured on many labels, including Om/Om’s seminal Om Lounge 10 releases.

For the last little while, Jianda’s been creating anywhere from 1–5 song, prose and spoken word ideas…per day! She will be sharing some of these releases throughout this blogging journey. She’s open to networking, creative coaching and project opportunities, and contract/freelance opportunities @LinkedIn.

Caveats regarding this series in particular: at times I disregard/break grammar rules (see Jack Kerouac’s manifesto), and I may also go back and add/remove things from pieces in these series. Often, I will post a draft that does not yet feel completely finished to me, in order to encourage myself to keep writing, and not to have to “do things perfectly,” and stay productive. I will do my best to add #wip and /or #iamwriting hashtags to indicate this. We live in the age of the living document. C’est les mots.